Riverside has been named one of the 21 most intelligent communities in the world by a New York-based think tank called the Intelligent Community Forum. Read my column on the subject at http://sbsun.com/johnweeks.
Here’s what the think tank judges had to say about Riverside:
“Located 60 miles from both Los Angeles and Palm Springs, Riverside is a bedroom community and university town, home to four colleges and universities. It is also an agricultural community specializing in citrus and a warehousing and transportation hub. But none of these industries has provided Riverside with sustainable growth. Today, Riverside is fighting with increasing success to build a tech-based economy that seizes the opportunities of the broadband revolution. A Smart Riverside nonprofit chaired by the mayor focuses on technology initiatives, and a CEO Forum of local tech companies has produced a plan for tech-based transformation. Under a city manager hired in 2005, the community has partnered with its universities to develop tech parks, incubators, business accelerators and mentoring programs. Carriers have deployed fiber and wireless networks reaching 80% of the city. The city serves as the anchor tenant, but the network offers low-speed WiFi access free to residents as well as paid tiers. Any family that completes a training class can receive a free PC refurbished by reformed gang members, which has made Smart Riverside the largest collector of “e-waste” in the region. The city has added more than 4.5 million square feet of industrial, commercial and retail space in recent years.”
Only five other U.S. cities or counties made the list:
Arlington County, Virginia
Bristol, Virginia
Dakota County, Minnesota
Danville, Virginia
Dublin, Ohio.
Go, Virginia! Three spots on the list!
The rest of the list is comprised of non-U.S. communities. Here they are (for judges’ comments on all 21 communities, visit intelligentcommunity.org):
Ballarat, Australia
Besancon, France
Dundee, Scotland
Eindhoven, Netherlands
Gold Coast City, Australia
Moncton, Canada
Ottawa, Canada
Porto Alegre, Brazil
Suwon City, South Korea
Tallinn, Estonia
Taoyuan County, Taiwan
Tel Aviv, Israel
Tianjin Binhai New Area, China
Trikala, Greece
Windsor-Essex, Canada
Go Canada! Three spots on the list!
